Lostface's Fury
by Lil Peapod
Summary: An AU exploring what might have happened if Brightpaw, rather than accepting her injuries and what had happened, grew cold, bitter, and vengeful. This story follows the young cat slowly growing into a villain rather than the noble warrior she could have been. Will simple revenge be enough for her, or will she be led down a darker path?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: Humble Beginnings**

All she could hear was that awful ringing in her ears.

She found herself just barely hanging on the edge of consciousness, the world around her threatening to turn dark at any moment. Hot, searing pain throbbed on one side of her face, and there was the sting of wounds from brutal battle. Blood pooled in her right eye. _I can't see, I can't see,_ she fretted, anxiety settling like a stone in her gut. Her left eye shot open, but the world around her was blurred and she couldn't quite make out the faces of the cats around her, no matter how hard she strained. Sudden flashes wracked her mind- _the dogs, the dogs-_ and she squirmed in her moss-laden nest.

"Pack pack, kill kill," she frantically murmured, her heart racing with the feeling of impending danger, "pack pack, kill kill."

She heard frightened murmurs around her, like a chorus of babbling brooks. They were going to drown her with the noise, she felt herself choking in the sound-

"Brightpaw, what do you mean?" Among the chatter she picked out her mother's sweet voice. She wanted so badly to curl up near her, take in her warm scent, but every movement brought pain.

With a start, she remembered who she had been with.

"Where's Swiftpaw?" She choked out, her throat rough and dry. When no one answered, she asked again, "Where is Swiftpaw?"

She was only met with sympathetic glances. She felt the ground drop out from underneath her, her stomach rising up into her throat. _No, no, he isn't. He can't be.  
_ She felt herself heave up whatever food she held in her stomach. Weakness flooded her limbs, washed up into her head and made her vision go dark again. The last thing she heard was Cinderpelt ushering her crowd out of the den.

* * *

As the morning sun rose, so did the sweltering heat. Humidity made every cat's fur ruffle up into gentle ploufs, and hunting and training was all the more exhausting. Brightpaw woke to an aching pain on the side of her face and in her muscles. Her body was still sticky with matted blood, and her face felt like she had just stuck it into a beehive ripe with honey. She lay there, her ears simply listening to the chatter of birds in the trees, the gentle whoops and chirps that drifted from the thick forest. The medicine den was quiet, shaded by the two leaning rocks. Brightpaw reached a paw to touch the earth. The dirt felt cool underpaw, and suddenly she longed to go for a walk. She was about to get up when she heard a mewl,

"What are you doing?"

Her gaze shot towards the entrance to the den. The young warrior, Cloudtail, flinched as she turned her face to him. His gaze held sympathy, worry, and…. Fear?

"I just… Wanted to go for a walk," she muttered, knowing all too well that no cat would let her do that.

"I think you should rest," he soothed, approaching her slowly. "Um…. How are you feeling?"

He sounded uncomfortable, and she wondered what for. She tried to sit up in her nest only to drop back down as the ache flashed to a throb. "Still hurts," she mewed through gritted teeth.

The white warrior simply nodded.

"How's everyone else doing? Are the dogs still there?"

Cloudtail gave a shrug of his fluffy shoulders. "We don't know, Brightpaw. Every apprentice and queen must have supervision when going out now."

Brightpaw sat in silence for a while, listening to the sway of leaves and the songs of birds. Her gaze stayed trained on a blade of grass outside the den. She still couldn't see through her right eye. She wondered if Cinderpelt had it patched up; it must have suffered a pretty heavy blow. She tried to close her eye to see if she could feel the cobweb and moss covering it, but all she felt was a raw sting.

"We didn't think you'd make it through the night," Cloudtail breathed, his blue eyes still trained away from her.

Brightpaw's eye widened, and she looked towards him, shocked. Wouldn't make it? "My injuries are bad, but they aren't that bad, are they?"

Cloudtail was refusing to look at her now.

"Cloudtail? They're not that bad?"

The warrior closed his eyes. "Look in the pool," he instructed.

"What?" Confused, she shakily got up, her body straining with the effort. Her muscles screamed for her to lay back down, to rest, but her mind was frantic and rushing her faster towards the small dip of water. Her front paws sliding on the muddier dirt around it, she gazed into the clear surface. Her heart lurched.  
What she saw before her wasn't her. This cat's ear was torn up beyond recognition, had fur torn and ripped and dangling. Fresh scars scored the length of the right side of their face, the skin puckered and scabbed where the blood had stopped running. Pink flesh shown underneath the grisly marks, and most of all-

Their eye was replaced with nothing but a swollen socket, wrinkled flesh filling the space where it used to be.

She gasped and backed away, falling back onto her haunches in the shock of what she had seen. That wasn't her reflection. She didn't look like that. Panic began to settle in her chest, her heart fluttering frantically like a bird ensnared in a pair of claws.

"No, no, no," she whispered, backing away from the cursed reflection. "I'm not.. That isn't…"

"Cloudtail?" A new voice appeared at the entrance, but Brightpaw refused to turn and look. "Why is she out of her nest?" She felt a cat gently heard her back to the bed of moss, and even after she settled into the plush bedding, the ache in her didn't subside. "Cloudtail, what did you say to her?" The voice was stern, angry, and she heard both her visitors retreat to the outer part of the medicine den. They were speaking in hushed whispered, words she refused to hear. Her mind was stuck on the image. _That's not me, I don't look like that. That wasn't me._

The cat reappeared in the den, her voice soothing now, "Brightpaw, you should get some more rest."

Brightpaw craned her neck to look at their medicine cat, Cinderpelt. "I'm disgusting," she choked, her throat burning as tears threatened to spill over. "I'm a monster."

"Brightpaw, no," Cinderpelt shook her head as she rested her tail on her spine, "you are not a monster."

"But my face-"

"Yes, you're disfigured. Yes, you suffered a horrible accident. But that will never stop you from becoming a great cat, Brightpaw," Cinderpelt paused, glancing at her crumpled hind leg, "it didn't stop me."

Brightpaw gazed at her, suddenly feeling a harsh wave of empathy for the gray medicine cat.

"Now, let's get you some poppy seeds. You need more rest if we're going to get you back on your paws." She padded over to the divots in the earth where plants and herbs lay resting in their store. With her paws she scooped out several of the little rounded herbs. "Eat these and it should help you get some more sleep." She gave Brightpaw a warm smile. "It will be ok, I promise."

Brightpaw gave a small nod, appreciative of how gentle she was being with her. Lapping up the poppy seeds, she curled up tight into her nest, her eye closing as she slowly drifted into sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: Saving Face**

Brightpaw woke in the night with a pounding heart, claws outstretched and her teeth clenched so hard on her tongue she felt blood trickle into her mouth. As the familiar gloom of the medicine den came into focus, she relaxed, her fur still spiked from her dream. She kept seeing nothing but the dogs, those horrible beasts, and what had happened to the two of them. Swiftpaw…

She needed to see Swiftpaw.

His image kept playing over and over in her head. He was the last thing she saw before blacking out. The dogs had rushed at them so suddenly, surrounding them with snapping jaws and beady eyes, their breath hot on their faces as they were backed into the tall boulders of Snakerocks. They had tried to take them on as a team, but the biggest of the three had separated the two of them, flinging her into the dirt with nothing but a swipe.

Her surroundings melded into memory once more as she drifted…

* * *

"Brightpaw!" Swiftpaw's voice was a shriek above the barking and growling coming from awful, bloody muzzles.

Brightpaw could not move. She stood against the cold face of the rock, frozen in place as the dog inched closer and closer. Its yellowed teeth glinted red with wet blood, and with a lunge, it took her shoulders sharply in its jaws. The world around her blurred as she was shook, and just as she believed she would be rattled apart, it threw her back into the large stone. Air spewed from her lungs, and her side screamed with the pain.

"Brightpaw, hang in there, I'm-" His voice was choked off as he was battered by the other two creatures.

She couldn't move. She lay there, unable to force her legs to lift her off the dirt. _What am I doing? I need to help! I need to save him!_

Before she could will herself to stand, the dog was looming above her, it's evil eyes staring into hers. Drool sputtered from its gaping mouth and onto her face, warm and hot just like the breath ruffling her cheek fur.

In a flash, all she felt was agony.

The horrible teeth clamped around the side of her face and kept tearing and tearing and tearing; she felt things pop, she heard the rip of her skin, she-

Was set free abruptly, the dog howling in pain as Swiftpaw raked its side.

"Brightpaw? Oh, Starclan, Brightpaw… " Sudden resolve flooded his voice. "I'm going to protect you. We'll get out of this, together." The black and white tom leaped back into the fray of snapping and growling. Blood pooled on one side of her face, and she watched with black inching the corners of her vision as her childhood friend ripped at the dog's flesh, dodged their swipes, fought with all his might. With horror she realized she could hear them.

 _Pack pack, kill kill._

She could hear their whispers promising bloodshed.

 _Pack pack, kill kill._

And then, she could hear nothing at all.

* * *

"Brightpaw? Brightpaw, please wake up!" She felt a paw prodding her side, and she woke with a start, Cinderpelt hovering above her.

"W-why?"

"You were muttering in your sleep…" The medicine cat fretted, her eyes filling with sadness as she gazed at her. "Again."

"What… What was I saying?" Still hazy from sleep, she tried to get her mind to unblur, to focus on reality and not the horrors of her dream.

"Not important," Cinderpelt murmured, and then quickly changed her expression, "how are you feeling today? Up for moving around?"

Brightpaw sat for a moment, flexing her paws and limbs in a way of testing their strength. Hope flaring in her chest, she stood, her legs shaky and aching but strong enough to hold her up. "I'm sore, but I think I could," she replied. She remained silent for a moment, shifting her paws, until she finally ventured, "Could I see Swiftpaw?"

Cinderpelt looked as though someone had raked thier claws across her cheek. "Brightpaw… Your friend, he didn't-"

"He didn't make it." It hurt her to force the words out, and though the reality of what had happened had already sunk in, she still felt her heart turn to stone in her chest. "I know. I want to visit him."

Cinderpelt seemed to teeter on the edge, unsure whether or not to grant or deny her request. Finally, she sighed, "I'll take you there."

"Thank you," Brightpaw breathed, grateful. She was glad that Cinderpelt moved at a slow pace, as Brightpaw could just barely put one paw in front of the other as she followed close behind. For the first time in days she emerged from the medicine den and felt the warmth of the sun grace her pelt. Somehow, all the leaves on the undergrowth appeared to be all the more vibrant, and she relished the soft grass cushioning her paw pads. It felt good to be out in the open again.

However, as she entered the clearing to their camp, she regretted coming out at all.

Cats stared at her openly before quickly turning away and busying themselves with any task they could. Some never stopped staring, and others wouldn't even look her way. Queens gasped and covered their kits eyes with their tails. Her denmates, who were currently sharing fresh kill by the apprentice's den, murmured to each other as she passed by. Shame and embarrassment made her pelt go hot, and she wanted nothing more than to run and hide.  
She felt a sudden weight on her shoulders. Cinderpelt had placed her tail tip atop them, and without looking at her simply mewed, "Ignore them."

 _Easier said than done,_ she thought to herself, anxiety still wrapping itself around her like a thicket of brambles. _How am I going to get used to this?_

The world outside the camp lulled her into a gentle calm; it seemed to move along differently than the hustle and chatter of the camp. Light filtered softly through the treetops and cast itself like yellow pools on the forest floor. Birds chirped and bugs flew past in a lazy buzz. She looked up to catch small wisps of clouds peeking out from the gaps in the branches.

"Look out-!"

Cinderpelt had warned her too late, and a burning sensation shot through her paw as she tumbled over a stone that lay in her path.

"You alright?" Cinderpelt was by her side, letting her lean against her as she struggled to stand.

"Yes, fine," Brightpaw muttered. _I almost forgot,_ she thought to herself dejectedly, _I can't just take it all in anymore. I can't even see what's to the right of me._

More disappointed now, Brightpaw continued to follow the medicine cat until they arrived where the gnarled roots of an oak curled in and out of the earth. Fresh herbs and flowers sprouted from the mossy base, and a small mound sloped gently against the trunk of the tree. Brightpaw's heart caught in her throat, and she felt the tears well up in her eyes. _Swiftpaw…_

"His mother requested he be buried here," Cinderpelt murmured, solemn.

Brightpaw felt her paws move her forward as though she were being pulled towards the mound. Tears were staining the fur on her cheeks now, and as her paw pad touched the soft, recently churned earth that now marked her dear friend's grave, a sudden longing washed over her. "Swiftpaw…" She choked out in a sob. She began to scrape at the earth, dirt shifting underneath her as she digged.

"Brightpaw, what are you doing?" Cinderpelt rushed over, attempting to shove her away from the grave. "Stop it! Why are you doing that?"

"I-I…" Her sobs were coming fast now, hot tears bubbling from her eyes like a brook. "I need to see him… I need to see him one last time, please…"

"Brightpaw, no, you need to let his soul rest," Cinderpelt's voice was soft. She gave her another nudge. "Let him rest."

She stopped the churning of her paws, noticing that with her weak limbs she barely even left but a shallow dip in the earth. "But I never got to say goodbye," she whimpered, feeling as though her heart would break in two.

Cinderpelt was silent for a moment. "What's your last memory of him?"

Sniffling, Brightpaw tried to focus on her memories and not the grave she was sitting pawsteps from. Her last memory…

"I don't know when the end came for Swiftpaw, but... " she trailed off, her gaze wandering to the slope. "... I remember him fighting like all of Lionclan. That's how I'll always remember him."

The world went silent for several heartbeats. Then, suddenly, the medicine cat softly butted her head against the side of her cheek, her eyes sympathetic and warm. "Then why would you want to see him now?" Cinderpelt shifted her gaze down to the grave. "He would want you to remember him as a brave warrior. Not like this."

Brightpaw nodded, soaking in these words. _I believe she's right,_ she thought to herself, _Swiftpaw wouldn't want me to see him… Or, what was him… Like this._ She was about to respond when a crashing sounded from the nearby undergrowth. Both cats pricked their ears towards the sound and watched as Ashpaw, one of her fellow denmates, slipped from between two brambles.

"She needs to come back to camp," he announced, his pupils flicking towards Brightpaw, "there's a clan meeting."


End file.
